The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology (문화기술의 융합)

The International Promotion Agency of Culture Technology (국제문화기술진흥원)
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The Relationships among Human, Machine, and Thought in Charles Babbage's Calculating Engines

찰스 바비지의 계산기관에서 인간, 기계, 생각의 관계성

  • Lim, Shan (Dept. of Curatorial Studies, Dongduk Womens Univ)
  • 임산 (동덕여자대학교 큐레이터학과)
  • Received : 2019.03.06
  • Accepted : 2019.04.21
  • Published : 2019.05.31
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Abstract

This paper considers the historical background of the emergence of 'thinking-machine,' that has changed the ontological statue of human and machine. In particular, British mathematician Charles Babbage's Calculating Engines is examined as a material iteration of thinking-machine, focusing on the discursive process by which thought is not the faculty of human, but the function of machine. In Chapter II, I review the dualism of René Descartes who denied the possibility of machine intelligence by separating the substance of body and mind. In Chapter III, Babbage's philosophical assertions which emphasized the function of human associated with thought by rejecting the fundamental opposition between human and machine. Therefore, this paper verifies that the conception of 'thinking-machine' essentially causes the reorganization and reformulation of concepts involved with human identity, and provides the sophisticated sources to prepare new perspective on the artificial technology nowadays.

본고는 인간과 기계의 존재론적 위상의 변화를 일으킨 '생각하는 기계' 등장의 역사적 형성 배경을 검토한다. 특히 영국인 수학자 찰스 바비지의 계산기관을 '생각하는 기계'의 시원으로 설정하고, '생각'이 인간의 능력이 아니라 기계의 기능으로 전환되는 과정에 초점을 둔다. 이를 위해 제2장에서는 인간의 육체와 정신의 실체를 분리하고 기계 지성의 가능성을 거부하는 데카르트의 이원론을 검토한다. 제3장에서는 데카르트의 인간과 기계의 본원적인 대립을 기각함으로써 생각과 연관되는 인간의 '기능'을 강조하는 찰스 바비지의 철학적 주장을 검토한다. 이런 과정을 통해 본고는 바비지의 '생각하는 기계'의 개념화가 필연적으로 인간 정체성에 연루된 개념들의 재조직화와 재구성을 수반할 수밖에 없음을 확인하고, 동시대 인공지능 테크놀로지의 변화에 대한 새로운 관점을 사유하게 하는 재료를 제안한다.

Keywords

GJMGCK_2019_v5n2_111_f0001.png 이미지

그림 1. 제1호 차분기관, 1832년 Figure 1. Difference Engines No.1, 1832

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